Method and system for collecting and presenting historical communication data

ABSTRACT

Among other disclosures, a method may include collecting historical communication data and personal data relating to a portion of a plurality of communications, a sender of one or more of the communications or one or more recipients of the communications. The method may include depositing the collected data into a repository of historical communication data and personal data. The method may include presenting one or more items in the repository, in response to user behavior.

PRIORITY APPLICATION

This patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional ApplicationNo. 60/951,880, filed on Jul. 25, 2007, entitled, “Presentation ofPersonal and Public Data Queried Through Implicit Actions”, the contentsof which are incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Electronic communications between persons for both business and personaluse have increased substantially in recent years. In addition to thenumber of communications increasing, the number of availablecommunication mediums has also increased. In addition to e-mailcommunications and telephone communications, additional forms ofcommunication have become common in recent years, including instantmessaging, social network messaging and commenting, message boardposting, text messaging, and Voice Over Internet Protocolcommunications.

These additional forms of communication have led to individualsexchanging communications with more people than ever before, which leadsto an even higher increase in the number of communications sent andreceived by an individual.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to collecting and presenting historicalcommunication data and personal data.

In a first aspect, a computer implemented method for presentinginformation related to historical communication and personal data caninclude collecting historical communication data and personal datarelating to a portion of a plurality of communications, a sender of oneor more of the communications or one or more recipients of thecommunications. The method can further include depositing the collecteddata into a repository of historical communication data and personaldata. The method can further include presenting one or more items in therepository, in response to user behavior selected from the groupcomprising opening a communication, viewing a communication, reading acommunication, writing a communication, performing a search, selecting aperson's name, selecting a communication summary, and selecting anattribute associated with the one or more items.

The method can further include querying one or more sources ofinformation to derive the historical communication data and the personaldata. The method can further include requesting information from asender of a communication or one or more recipients of thecommunication. The method can further include displaying the one or moreitems in an additional portion of a user interface (e.g., in a panel)within an e-mail client, web browser, or instant message window. Themethod can further include displaying the one or more items integratedwith a body of the communication using one or more display methodsselected from the group comprising highlighting, underlining, addinghyper links, adding text, adding images, adding video, and addingattachments.

The method can further include tracking mouse movements, mouselocations, keyboard strokes, mouse clicks, or active windows in order todetermine if the user has made an implicit request to view one or moreitems in the repository. The method can further include sharing some orall of the data in the repository among a network of participants. Themethod can further include sharing different amounts of data from therepository with each participant based on preference settings. Themethod can further include allowing a user to select one or more of theone or more presented items and automatically generating a communicationin response to the user selection.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A shows an example e-mail client with a person profile side bar.

FIG. 1B shows an example of a person profile.

FIG. 1C shows an example of a conversation thread profile.

FIG. 1D shows a portion of an example person profile that can be used torequest contact information.

FIG. 1E shows a portion of an example person profile that can be used topost shared notes.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example communication delivery system.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an example process 300 for collecting andpresenting historical communication and personal data.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1A shows an example system 100 for displaying a personal profilecontaining information about communications to, from, and involving anindividual. The system 100 includes an e-mail client 102 which caninclude an inbox viewing panel 104 and an e-mail viewing panel 106. Thee-mail client 102 can be a standard stand alone e-mail client such asMicrosoft Outlook or Eudora. In an alternate implementation the e-mailclient 102 can be a web based e-mail client such as Yahoo! mail or Gmailthat is viewed using a web browser. The e-mail client 102 can allow auser to view a list of e-mails in the inbox viewing panel 104. The usercan select an e-mail in the inbox viewing panel 104 causing the e-mailclient 102 to display the selected e-mail in the e-mail viewing panel106.

In some implementations, instead of an e-mail client, the system 100 caninclude an instant messaging client, a social network client, a textmessage client, or another communication viewing client. It is to beunderstood that while portions of this description describe systems andmethods involving e-mail communications, these same systems and methodscan be implemented using other forms of communication, including instantmessages, phone calls, text messages, internet message board postings,social network messages or comments, or voice over IP communications.

The e-mail client 102 also includes a personal profile 108. In theexample depicted, the personal profile 108 is displayed as an additionalpanel within the e-mail client 102 positioned to the right of the inboxviewing panel 104 and the e-mail viewing panel 106. This additionalpanel is sometimes referred to as a side bar. In some implementations,the personal profile 108 can be located at the top, bottom, left side,or any other location within the e-mail client 102. In still someimplementations, the personal profile 108 can be displayed in a standalone window, in a pop-up bubble displayed over a portion of the e-mailclient 102, or integrated as part of one of the other viewing panelsdisplayed by the e-mail client 102. For example, a pop up bubblecontaining a personal profile 108 can be displayed when an e-mail isselected in the inbox viewing panel 104, when an e-mail address orportion of text in the e-mail viewing panel 106 is selected, or when amouse icon is moved over an e-mail address, name, icon, or portion oftext. In another example, information can be integrated as part of thebody of an e-mail, such as inserting a picture next to a person's namein the body of an e-mail, or inserting a person's name next to a phonenumber in an e-mail or attachment.

The personal profile 108 can contain information relating to a sender ofan e-mail, a recipient of an e-mail, the body of an e-mail, anattachment to an e-mail, or a person or topic mentioned in an e-mail. Inalternate implementations, the personal profile 108 can containinformation related to a sender, recipient, body, attachment or topic ofanother communication medium such as an instant message, a phone call, atext message, an internet message board, a social network message orcomment, or a voice over IP communication. The user can implicitlyrequest information to be displayed in the personal profile 108 byselecting an e-mail in the inbox viewing panel 104 or selecting textwithin a header or body of an e-mail in the e-mail viewing panel 106. Insome implementations, the profile can include additional information(e.g., derived information such as search results derived from a topicmentioned in a communication).

In some implementations, the person profile 108 can display informationabout an entity other than a person. For example, a communication may bereceived from an automated system, such as from a travel website,on-line retailer, an advertising service, or a mailing list. The personprofile 108 can display information related to the sender of thecommunication. For example, if the communication received has been sentfrom a travel website, information related to the travel website, orother communications from the travel website can be displayed. Inanother example, if the communication received has been sent from anmailing list, information related to the mailing list, or othercommunications received from the mailing list can be displayed. As yetanother example, if the communication received has been sent from abusiness entity, information about the business entity (e.g., address,telephone number, contact person name) can be included in the personalprofile.

For example, the user can select an e-mail 110 in the inbox viewingpanel 104 causing the personal profile 108 to display informationrelated to a sender 112 of the e-mail 110. In another example, the usercan select an e-mail address 114 or name of a recipient of the e-mail110 in order to display information related to the recipient in thepersonal profile 108. In another example, the user can select anattachment to the e-mail 110 in order to display information related tothe attachment in the personal profile 108. In yet another example, theuser can select the name of a person, a user name of a person, or aparticular topic listed in a header, a body, or an attachment of thee-mail 110 in order to display information related to the person ortopic in the personal profile 108.

In some implementations, the system 100 can determine if the user hasmade an implicit request to view information in the personal profile 108by tracking, for example, user input of the form of mouse movements,mouse locations, keyboard strokes, mouse clicks, or active windows.Implicit requests to view information in the person profile 108 caninclude opening, viewing, reading or writing an e-mail or othercommunication medium. For example, if the user starts to compose aninstant message, the personal profile 108 can display informationrelated to the recipient of the instant message. In another example, ifthe user views a social network profile, either within the e-mail client102 or in a separate web browser, the personal profile 108 can displayinformation related to a person associated with the social networkprofile.

In some implementations, the user can make a specific request to viewinformation in the personal profile 108 by performing a search orclicking on a person's name.

In some implementations, the system 100 can be linked to a phone (e.g.,voice over IP phone) used by the user. For example, the system 100 caninclude means for detecting when the user makes or receives a phone callor text message using the phone and display information related to arecipient or initiator of the phone call or text message in the personalprofile 108.

In the example depicted in FIG. 1A, the user has selected the e-mail 110in the inbox viewing panel 104 and header information and a portion ofthe body of the e-mail 110 is displayed in the e-mail viewing panel 106.The e-mail 110 was received from the sender 112. The system 100 hasdetermined that the user has made an implicit request to viewinformation related to the sender 112 by selecting the e-mail 110. Inresponse to this implicit request, the system 100 displays in the personprofile 108 information related to the sender 112.

In the example, the information displayed in the person profile 108includes an e-mail address 116, a phone number 118, communicationstatistics 120, a contact network 122, a conversation list 124, and afiles exchanged list 126. In some implementations, the person profile108 can display additional contact information such as name, screennames, social network profile names, social network profile URLs,physical addresses, website URLs, additional e-mail addresses, oradditional telephone numbers.

In the example, the communication statistics 120 include the number ofe-mails received from the sender 112 and the number of e-mails sent tothe sender 112. In some implementations, additional communicationstatistics 120 can be displayed, including times of communications,dates of communications, types of communications, volume ofcommunications, length of communications, or speed of responses. Forexample, a statistic for the average amount of time it takes the sender112 to respond to e-mails sent by the user can be displayed. In anotherexample, the times of day that the sender 112 is most likely to respondto an e-mail or other form of communication can be displayed as acommunication statistic 120. In another example, a statistic can bedisplayed that lists the percentage of communications between the userand the sender 112 that occur using a telephone, the percentage ofcommunications that occur using instant messaging, the percentage ofcommunications that occur using e-mails, or the percentage ofcommunications that occur using a social network website as a percentageof all communications between the user and the sender 112. In anotherexample, the number of communications sent or received on which thesender 112 has been copied can be displayed as a communication statistic120. In another example, the number of communications received by theuser on which the sender 112 has also been listed as a recipient can bedisplayed as a communication statistic 120.

In some implementations, the communication statistics 120 that aredisplayed can be chosen by the user. The user can choose to have adefault set of communication statistics displayed, or the user canselect which individual communication statistics 120 are to bedisplayed. The user can choose to have the same set of communicationstatistics 120 displayed for each person profile 108 or the user canchoose to have a different set of communication statistics 120 displayeddepending on which person or topic the currently displayed personprofile 108 is associated with.

The contact network 122 displayed in the person profile 108 shows a listof contacts 128 that are associated with the sender 112. In the exampledepicted, the contacts 128 are shown as e-mail addresses. In someimplementations, the contacts 128 can be listed as names, screen names,nick names, employee numbers, social network profile names, socialnetwork profile URLs, telephone numbers, website URLs, or anycombination of these.

In some implementations, details about a contact 128 can be displayedadjacent to the contact 128 in the contact network 122. These detailscan include time since last communication, last form of communication,frequency of communications, total numbers of communications, or otherrelated data.

The contacts 128 listed in the contact network 122 are contacts that areassociated with the sender 112. The contacts 128 can include recipientsof communications from the sender 112, recipients of communications ofwhich the sender 112 is also a recipient, individuals named in a body orheader of a communication with the sender 112, or individuals named in adocument that is attached to a communication with the sender 112. Forexample, a person who was copied on an e-mail between the user and thesender 112 can be listed as a contact 128 in the contact network 122. Inthe example depicted, the header of the e-mail 110 as shown in thee-mail viewing panel 106 lists all.houston@enron.com as a recipient ofthe e-mail 110. The contact network 122 lists all.houston@enron.com as acontact 128 of the sender 112. In another example, if the user receivesan e-mail from the sender 112 with the subject line “Matt Smith'sbirthday party”, Matt Smith can be listed as a contact 128 in thecontact network 122 even if Matt Smith has never been included in orbeen the recipient of any communications between the user and the sender112. In another example, if the user posts a comment to a social networkprofile page belonging to the sender 112 and a person named Eric Johnsonhas also posted a comment to the social network profile page, or islisted as a friend of the sender 112 on the social network profile page,Eric Johnson can be listed as a contact 128 in the contact network 122.

In some implementations, the contacts 128 listed in the contact network122 can be collected from sources other than communications between theuser and the sender 112. In one implementation, the sender 112 canprovide a list of contacts to the user to include in the contact network122 for the sender 112. The sender 112 can provide the list of contactsto the user through sharing the list of contacts on a shared network, orby sending a communication to the user with, for example, the list ofcontacts in a body of the communication or in an attachment to thecommunication.

In some implementations, the system 100 can collect data from outsidesources in order to determine contacts 128 to be listed in the contactnetwork 122. The system 100 can query various sources to extractinformation on contacts that can be associated with the sender 112 andlisted in the contact network 122. Sources of information that can bequeried to derive contacts associated with the sender 112 can includeweb search engines, people search engines, social networks, personal webpages, telephone directories, scanned business card data or companywebsite profiles.

For example, the system 100 can perform a search of a social networkbased on the sender 112's name, e-mail address, screen names or otherinformation about the sender 112. The system can then identify a profilepage on the social network belonging to the sender 112. Any contactsthat are publicly listed on the social network profile page can belisted in the contact network 122 of the sender 112 even if the user hasnever communicated with the sender 112 using the social network orviewed the profile page of the sender 112 on this social network. Insome implementations, the system 100 can access and extract contactslisted on a private social network profile page belonging to the sender112 if the user has proper access information or authorization to viewthe private social network profile page of the sender 112.

In another example, the system 100 can use a search engine to perform asearch based on the sender 112's name, e-mail address, screen names orother information about the sender 112 in order to identify web pagesthat may contain contacts that can be associated with the sender 112.For example, the system 100 can use a search engine to perform a searchbased on the sender 112's name. If one of the search results returned isfor a blog written by a person named Mark Adams that mentions the sender112, then Mark Adams can be listed as a contact 128 in the contactnetwork 122. In another example, the system 100 can determine that thesender 112 works for the same company as a person who has sent adifferent communication to the user. This person can then be listed as acontact 128 of the sender 112. In some implementations, the system 100can collect data using a peer to peer network.

Information that can be used to collect information about contacts 128or other information displayed in the personal profile 108 can includee-mail addresses, names, screen names, social network profile names,phone numbers, personal website URLs, social network profile URLs, orphysical addresses.

The contacts 128 displayed in the contact network 122 can be listed inorder based on a ranking system. Criteria used to rank the contacts 128can include total volume of communication, volume of communication overa period of time, length of communications, importance level ofcommunications, types of communications, contents of communications,time of communications; methods by which the contacts 128 weredetermined to be associated with the sender 112, or any combination ofthese. For example, the contacts 128 can be ranked based on the totalnumber of communications between the user and the sender 112 for which acontact is also a recipient of the communication. In another example,the contacts 128 can be ranked based on the number of communicationsbetween the user and the sender 112 for which a contact is also arecipient of the communication over the course of the last three weeks.In another example, the contacts 128 can be ranked based on the numberof communications between the user and a contact for which the sender112 is also a recipient of the communication.

In another example, the contacts 128 can be ranked based on the lengthof communications between the user and the sender 112 for which acontact is also a recipient of the communication with longercommunications being ranked higher than shorter communications. Inanother example, contacts that are listed on communications flagged asurgent or important can be ranked higher than other contacts. In anotherexample, the user can choose to have contacts who mainly communicatewith the user or sender 112 using e-mail ranked higher than contacts whomainly communicate with the user or sender 112 using instant message orsocial networks. In another example, the system 100 can use the contentsof communications involving each contact 128 and the sender 112 todetermine if communications involving the contact 128 and the sender 112are primarily business related or social related communications. Thesystem 100 can then give a higher ranking to contacts associated withbusiness communications than contacts associated with socialcommunications.

In another example, contacts who are associated with more recentcommunications between the user and the sender 112 can be ranked higherthan contacts associated with older communications between the user andthe sender 112. In another example, contacts that have been determinedto be associated with the sender 112 based on e-mail communication canbe ranked higher than contacts that have been determined to beassociated with the sender 112 based on web searches.

In some implementations, each contact 128 listed in the contact network122 can be a link to more information about the contact 128. Forexample, if a contact 128 is clicked on, selected, or interacted with bythe user, a person profile containing information about the selectedcontact 128 can be displayed. In another example, the user can hover amouse cursor or other selection tool over a contact 128. This can causea pop-up bubble containing additional information about the contact 128to be displayed.

The conversation list 124 can display a list of recent communicationsbetween the user and the sender 112 or involving the user and the sender112. The communications displayed on the conversation list 124 can be alist of past e-mails, text messages, instant messages, telephone calls,social network communications, message board posts or voice over IPcommunications involving the sender 112. In some implementations, theconversation list 124 can be a list of recent conversation threadsinvolving the sender 112. A conversation thread is a series ofcommunications that can be grouped together. For example, a series ofe-mails having the same or similar subjects can be grouped together as aconversation thread. In another example, a group of instant messagesbetween the sender 112 and the user that occurred over a specific periodof time can be grouped together as a conversation thread. For example,if the user sent and received a series of instant messages from thesender 112 over a three hour period earlier in the day, and thatconversation was separated from another series of instant messagesbetween the user and the sender 112 by a period of 2 hours, the instantmessages that were sent and received during that three hour period canbe grouped together as a conversation thread. In another example, aseries of telephone calls between the user and the sender 112 thatoccurred during a set time period can be grouped together as aconversation thread.

The communications or conversation threads displayed in the conversationlist 124 can be listed in order based on a ranking system. In oneimplementation, conversation threads can be listed in order of mostrecent communications to oldest communications. In some implementations,conversation threads can be listed in order of oldest to most recent. Insome implementations, conversation threads can be listed in order ofimportance with conversation threads containing communications marked asurgent being ranked higher than conversation threads with fewercommunications marked urgent or no communications marked urgent. In someimplementations, the system 100 can determine which conversation threadsare work related and which conversation threads are social. Theconversation threads that are work related can then be ranked higherthan the conversation threads that are social. In some implementations,conversation threads can be ranked based on the number of communicationsin the conversation thread.

Communications that are listed in the conversation list can includecommunications initiated by the sender 112, communications for which thesender 112 is a recipient, communications on which the sender 112 hasbeen copied, or communications in which the sender 112 is mentioned.

In the example depicted in FIG. 1A, the conversation list 124 displays alist of recent conversation threads involving the user and the sender112. The conversation threads displayed are for recent e-mailcommunications involving the user and the sender 112. The e-mails ineach conversation thread are grouped by subject. The conversation list124 displays the subject for each conversation thread, the number ofe-mails in each conversation thread, and the amount of time that haspassed since the last communication for this conversation thread wassent or received. In some implementations, additional information can bedisplayed for each conversation thread, including: time and date of thelast communication in the conversation thread, time and date of thefirst communication in the conversation thread, other contacts involvedin the conversation thread, average length of communications in theconversation thread, total number of people involved in the conversationthread, level of importance of the communications in the conversationthread, attachments shared in the conversation thread, calendar eventsrelated to the conversation thread, other forms of communication relatedto the conversation thread, relevant web data, or average response timeof communications in the conversation thread.

In some implementations, the conversation list 124 can display a summaryor the first few lines of the most recent communication for eachconversation list. In some implementations, the conversation list 124can display a summary or the first few lines of the first communicationfor each conversation list. In some implementations, the conversationlist 124 can display a summary or the first few lines of the lastcommunication initiated by the sender 112 for each conversation list.

The files exchanged list 126 displays a list of files that were attachedto communications involving the user and the sender 112. This caninclude communications initiated by the user for which the sender 112was a recipient, communications initiated by the sender 112 for whichthe user was a recipient, or communications initiated by a third partyfor which the sender 112 and the user were both recipients. The filesexchanged list 126 can also include files that were exchanged betweenthe user and the sender 112 without using a communication medium. Forexample, the files exchanged list 126 can include files that weretransferred from the sender 112's network drive to the user's computeror network drive. In another example, the files exchanged list 126 caninclude files that were transferred to the user's computer or networkdrive from an external hard drive, flash drive, or floppy disk belongingto or populated by the sender 112.

The files displayed in the files exchanged list 126 can be listed inorder based on a ranking system. In one implementation, files can belisted in order of most recently received files to least recentlyreceived files. In some implementations, files can be listed in order ofoldest to most recent. In some implementations, files can be listed inorder of importance, with files that were attached to communicationsmarked as urgent being ranked higher than files attached tocommunications that were not marked as urgent. In some implementations,the system 100 can determine which files are work related and whichfiles are personal. The files that are work related can then be rankedhigher than the files that are personal. In some implementations, filescan be ranked based on the size of the files.

In some implementations, files can be ranked in order of most recentlymodified to least recently modified. In some implementations, files canbe ranked based on creation date of the files. In some implementations,files can be ranked based on the authors of the files. In someimplementations, files can be ranked based on recent activity ofcommunication threads associated with the files. For example, a firstfile that was sent as an attachment to a communication in acommunication thread for which the most recent communication occurredtoday can be ranked higher than a second file that was sent as anattachment to a communication in a communication thread for which themost recent communication occurred three days ago, even if the firstfile was sent before the second file.

In some implementations, the files displayed in the files exchanged list126 can be grouped together. The files can be grouped together based onthe subject of the communications to which the files were attached, filename, file title, date of the file, date of the communication, filetype, or subject matter of the file. For example, if a document hasundergone several rounds of revisions, the different versions of thedocument can be grouped together so that the different versions of thedocument can be easily compared to one another. In another example, anumber of files about rain forests can be grouped together since theyall contain related subject matter. In another example, all image filescan be grouped together so that they can be more easily viewed, oreasily put into a slide show. For example, a group of image files can bedisplayed as a slide show and each slide can contain additionalinformation about the image being displayed, such as who sent the image,recipients of the image, the date the image was sent or received, orother information drawn from one or more communications to which theimage was attached.

In some implementations, the person profile 108 can include additionalinformation about the selected e-mail 110. The system 100 can extractinformation from the e-mail 110 and use this information to gather anddisplay data from websites, search engines, or other sources ofinformation. For example, the e-mail 110 may contain information abouttravel arrangements. The e-mail 110 can be an e-mail from an airline,travel agent, travel website or other source. If the e-mail 110 containsinformation about a flight, such as a flight number, an airline, adeparture time, an arrival time, a departure city, or an arrival city,the system 100 can use this information to query search engines ortravel websites for information about the flight. This information caninclude expected departure time, expected arrival time, expected delays,weather in the destination city, weather in the departure city, or anychanges to the flight. This information can then be displayed as part ofthe person profile 108. This allows the user to see when changes totravel arrangements have occurred, and easily contact a travel companyor airline in order to correct the situation.

In another example, the e-mail 110 can contain information about apurchase from an on-line retailer. The e-mail 110 can contain shippinginformation, shipping status, or order information. If the e-mail 110contains a shipping number for the shipment of a recently purchaseditem, the system 100 can query a search engine or shipping web site toextract information about the current status and expected arrival of theitem. This information can then be displayed as part of the personprofile 108.

In another example, the e-mail 110 can contain information about an itemor service that the user is interested in purchasing. The system 100 canquery one or more search engines, websites, or on-line retailers todetermine which retailer or website has the best price or currently hasthe item in stock or the service available. This information can then bedisplayed as part of the person profile 108.

FIG. 1B shows a person profile 130 for a person 132 named “Jen Ertel”.The person profile 130 for the person 132 can be displayed in responseto an action by a user that indicates either an implicit or directrequest to view the person profile 130 of the person 132. Actions by theuser that can cause the person profile 130 for the person 132 to bedisplayed can include viewing or selecting a communication sent by theperson 132, viewing or selecting a communication for which the person132 is listed as a recipient, composing or initiating a communicationwith the person 132, selecting or clicking on a name, screen name, ore-mail address of the person 132, or performing a search for informationrelated to the person 132.

The person profile 130 includes a search bar 134. The search bar 134 canbe used to request that information be displayed about a particularperson, topic, conversation thread, communication, or file. For example,a search performed using the search bar 134 and the search string “AllanTate” can result in a person profile for a person named Allan Tate beingdisplayed. In another example, a search using the search string“sunday_presentation.ppt” can result in information about a file named“sunday_presentation.ppt” being displayed. In another example, a searchusing the search string “2002 Sales Goals” can result in information tobe displayed regarding communications with the subject “2002 SalesGoals”, containing the phrase “2002 Sales Goals”, or having attachmentsthat contain the phrase “2002 Sales Goals”.

Search criteria that can be used to identify a person profile caninclude names, screen names, social network profile names, socialnetwork profile URLs, physical addresses, website URLs, e-mailaddresses, e-mail subject lines, file names, or telephone numbers. Forexample, a search using the search string “allan.tate@example.com” canresult in a person profile for a person named “Allan Tate” beingdisplayed. In the example depicted in FIG. 1B, a search for the phonenumber “(612) 555-1243” may have been performed in-order to display theperson profile 130 for the person 132 named “Jen Ertel”.

The person profile 130 can include a title bar 136. The title bar 136can display a name, a nick name, a screen name, a primary e-mailaddress, or other identifying title for the person 132 so that the usercan easily identify who the information in the person profile 130 isrelated to.

The person profile 130 can also include an image 138. The image 138 canbe a picture of the person 132 to help the user more easily identify whothe information in the person profile 130 is related to or to help theuser identify whom he or she is communicating with. For example, if theuser receives an instant message from a person with the screen name“summergirl” the user may not be able to remember who this screen namebelongs to. When the instant message is received, the person profile 130can display information about the person with the screen name“summergirl” including a picture of the person as the image 138. Thiscan help the user to identify whom he or she is communicating with. Theimage 138 can also be an image, icon, or picture associated with theperson 132. The image, icon, or picture can be used to identify theperson 132 as a business contact, co-worker, friend, socialacquaintance, client, or contractor. For example, all of the personprofiles 130 for contacts from a particular company can display a logofor that company. This can help the user to quickly identify whatrelationship he or she has with these particular contacts.

The image 138 can be added to the person profile 130 by the user, or itcan be automatically extracted from a communication with the person 132or from a website or profile page belonging to or about the person 132.For example, if a social network screen name or URL for the person 132is known, an image from the person 132's social network profile page canbe extracted and used as the image 138. In another example, if instantmessage communications with the person 132 include an icon thatidentifies the person 132, this instant message icon can be extractedand used as the image 138.

The person profile 130 can include communication statistics 140 aboutcommunications involving the person 132. These communication statistics140 can include the statistics as previously described for FIG. 1A. Inthe example shown in FIG. 1B, one of the communication statistics 140displayed is a graph 142 showing what times of day communications arereceived from the person 132 and the relative volume received from theperson 132 at each time of day. This can help the user to determinewhen, or how quickly the person 132 will respond to a new communicationfrom the user. For example, if the user lives in the United States andthe person 132 lives in Germany, most of the communications receivedfrom the person 132 may occur between 5:00 am and 10:00 am of the user'slocal time. The graph 142 can easily display this information so thatthe user can determine when to reasonably expect a response to a recentcommunication from the person 132.

Other communication statistics 140 displayed in the person profile 130in FIG. 1B include the total number of communications received from theperson 132, the total number of communications sent to the person 132,and a rank 144. The rank 144 can be the rank of the person 132 comparedto all other persons that the user communicates with. The rank 144 canbe based, for example, on total communications exchanged, total numberof attachments exchanged, total number of communications sent, totalnumber of communications received, length of communications orimportance of communications.

Communication statistics 140 can be displayed as graphs or charts asshown in FIG. 1B, or as text. In some implementations, statistics can bedisplayed in the person profile 130 or in an additional panel or pop-upwindow as “fun facts”. For example, when viewing a person profile forsomeone named “Matt Miller”, the person profile can display a messagethat reads “Matt's birthday is next week”. In another example, a pop-upbubble with the message “Your last communication with Matt was 21 daysago” can be displayed. In another example, a panel can display a messagereading “You send Matt 20 times as many messages as he sends you.”

Another example of a fun fact that can be displayed is “Matt is your5^(th) most e-mailed contact”. Another example of a fun fact that can bedisplayed is “your most e-mailed contact is Steve.’. Another example ofa fun fact that can be displayed is “the fastest responder to yourcommunications is Garrett.” The fun facts can include any combination ofcommunication statistics, communication information, contactinformation, or contact statistics.

In some implementations, communication statistics 140 can be shared withother persons. For example, the user can choose to share communicationstatistics with the person 132. The person 132 will then be able to viewcommunication statistics 140 about his or her communications with theuser. In some implementations, the user can indicate that one or morepersons are trusted contacts. Communication statistics 140 can beautomatically shared with all persons indicated as trusted contacts.Other information, such as calendar information, contact information, orcontact network information can also be shared with trusted contacts.

The person profile 130 can include contact information 146. The contactinformation 146 displayed can include e-mail addresses, telephonenumbers, screen names, social network profile names, social networkprofile URLs, physical addresses, facsimile numbers, or website URLs.The contact information 146 can be collected from a variety of sourcesincluding communications between the person 132 and the user,communications between the user and other persons, e-mail body text,e-mail meta data, e-mail header information, e-mail attachments, websearch engines, people search engines, social networks, e-mail clients,instant messages, personal web pages, telephone directories, scannedbusiness card data, text messages, picture sharing websites, videosharing websites, personal profile pages, telephone communications, orcustomer relationship management systems. For example, when the userreceives an e-mail from a person, that person's e-mail address can beadded to the list of contact information 146 for that person's personprofile 130. In another example, when the user makes a phone call to aperson, that person's telephone number can be added to the list ofcontact information 146 for that person's person profile 130.

In some implementations, contact information 146 can be extracted fromthe body, subject, or meta data of a communication between the user andthe person 132. For example, if the user receives an e-mail from theperson 132 with a signature block at the end that includes a telephonenumber, facsimile number, and screen name for the person 132, thiscontact information can be extracted from the e-mail and added to thelist of contact information 146 for the person 132's person profile 130.In another example, an e-mail from a person can include an address forthe person in the body of the e-mail or in an attachment to the e-mail,this address can be extracted from the e-mail or attachment and added tothe list of contact information 146 for that person's person profile130. In another example, the person 132 can leave a social network postfor the user telling the user the person 132's instant message screenname, this screen name can be added to the list of contact information146 for the person 132's person profile 130.

In some implementations, contact information 146 for the person 132 canbe extracted from a communication from a third party. For example, theuser can receive an e-mail from Bill that contains the text “Mary's cellphone number is 608-555-5353”. This phone number can be extracted fromBill's e-mail and added to the list of contact information 146 forMary's person profile 130. In another example, the user can receive ane-mail with an attachment that contains a list of telephone numbers,e-mail addresses, and office numbers for everyone in the user's office.The telephone number, e-mail address, and office number for each personlisted on the attachment can be extracted and added to the list ofcontact information 146 for the person profiles 130 of each personlisted on the attachment.

Contact information 146 can be extracted from multiple sources,including multiple e-mail clients, multiple web mail systems, multipleinstant message clients, multiple telephone numbers, multiple socialnetworks, or multiple web pages.

In some implementations, contact information 146 can be collected usingsearch engines, telephone directories, or people search engines. Searchcriteria can include e-mail addresses, names, screen names, socialnetwork profile names, phone numbers, personal website URLs, socialnetwork profile URLs, facsimile numbers or physical addresses. Forexample, a search of a telephone directory or people search engine for“Rex Banner” can return a telephone number for Rex Banner. Thistelephone number can then be added to the list of contact information146 for Rex Banner's person profile 130. In another example, a peoplesearch or web search for the e-mail address “alewis@example.com” canreturn a URL for a social network profile for Adam Lewis. The name “AdamLewis” can then be associated with the e-mail address“alewis@example.com” in a person profile 130. In addition, the socialnetwork profile URL and social network screen name for Adam Lewis can beadded to the list of contact information 146 for Adam Lewis's personprofile 130. Furthermore, additional contact information, that is listedon the social network profile for Adam Lewis, such as additional e-mailaddresses, phone numbers, instant message screen names, etc., can beextracted from the social network profile and added to the list ofcontact information 146 for Adam Lewis's person profile 130.

In another example, a web search or person search for a person canreturn a photo or video sharing website profile for the person. The URLor screen name for the person's photo or video sharing website profilecan be added to the list of contact information 146 for the person'sperson profile 130. In addition, the photo or video sharing website maycontain additional contact information for the person that can beextracted and added to the list of contact information 146 for theperson's person profile 130.

In another example, contact information 146 for the person 132 caninclude an e-mail address “jertel@examplecompanyltd.com”. A web searchcan be performed to identify the website associated with the e-mailextension “examplecompanyltd.com”. For example, this e-mail extensioncan be associated with a company called “Example Company ltd.”. Thewebsite for Example Company ltd. can then be searched for informationabout the person 132. The website may include a profile page for theperson 132 that includes contact information that can be added to thelist of contact information 146 for the person 132's person profile 130.In addition, the URL for the profile page can be added to the list ofcontact information 146 for the person 132's person profile 130.

In some implementations, the address for a person can be used to refinethe search results for that person by constricting the results toinformation about persons in a specific geographic area. For example, ifa search is being performed for information on a person with a commonname, such as “Bill Johnson”, and Bill Johnson's address is known, thesearch results can be refined by restricting the results to informationabout person's named Bill Johnson in the city of the known address. Insome implementations, other information about a person can be used torefine search results for that person.

In some implementations, contact information can be extracted from ashared network drive or through a secure connection. In someimplementations, contact information can be automatically shared betweensystems. For example, the person 132 can elect to share contactinformation with all people in a trusted network, such as all peoplewith e-mail extensions from the same company. A computer belonging tothe person 132 can then automatically send contact information to alltrusted people. If the user is in the network of trusted people, theperson 132's contact information will automatically be shared with acomputer or system belonging to the user.

In some implementations, contact information for the person 132 can bemanually added or removed from the person profile 130 by the user. Insome implementations, contact information for the person 132 can bemanually added or removed from the person profile by the person 132 orby a third party. In some implementations, the user can choose whichcontact information for each person is displayed in that person's personprofile.

In some implementations, when a mouse cursor or other selection tool ishovered over/indicates a piece of contact information in the list ofcontact information 146, a pop-up bubble or other indicator can bedisplayed which indicates the source from which the piece of contactinformation was received or extracted. For example, if a phone numberhas been extracted from an e-mail, a hover bubble can be displayed whichshows the e-mail or a portion of the e-mail where the phone number wasextracted with the extracted info highlighted or demarcated in some way.

In some implementations, the user can be allowed to validate contactinformation in the list of contact information 146. Validated contactinformation can be indicated as validated, and un-validated contactinformation can be indicated as un-validated. For example, if a phonenumber for the person 132 is extracted from an e-mail, the user can lookat the phone number to determine if it is indeed the correct phonenumber for the person 132. If the user believes that the phone number iscorrect, the user can choose to validate the phone number. The phonenumber can then be displayed along with an indication that it has beenvalidated, such as with a check mark icon, or text that reads “valid”.If the user is unsure if the phone number is correct, or has not takenthe time to validate the phone number, the phone number can be displayedwith an indication that it has not been validated, such as with aquestion mark icon, or the text “not validated”.

In some implementations, presence of the person 132 can be indicated forsome or all of the contact information on the list of contactinformation 146. For example, an indicator next to a person's instantmessage screen name can indicated if the person is currently logged ontothe related instant message network. In another example, an indicatornext to a person's social network screen name or URL can indicate if theperson is currently logged onto the related social network or if theperson has made a recent update to his or her social network profile. Inanother example, an indicator next to a person's e-mail address canindicate if the person has put up an away message or out of the officemessage.

In some implementations, the person profile 130 can display informationabout the person 132's current location. If the person 132 is inpossession of a GPS unit, GPS enabled phone, or other location detectiondevice, the person 132 can choose to share his or her locationinformation. There are several services that allow a person to sharelocation information with other people. The person 132 can choose toshare his or her location information with the user. The person profile130 can then display the current location of the person 132. Thislocation information can be displayed as an address, map coordinates, ora graphic of a map with an icon to indicate the person 132's presentlocation.

Other information about the person 132 that can be displayed on theperson profile 130 can include birthday, gender, age, job title,employer, universities attended, family information, or otherbiographical data. Information from Customer Relationship ManagementSystems (CRMs) about or related to the person 132 can also be displayedin the person profile 130. Information about calendar items or scheduledmeetings related to the person 132 or related to a communication canalso be displayed as part of the person profile 130.

In some implementations, information from one or more websites can bedisplayed as a chronological feed of information in the person profile130. This information can be queried on the web via one or more searchengines or from one or more specific websites through establishedassociations between the person 132 and the one or more websites. Forexample, this information can be found by general searching, peoplesearching, or querying websites where it has been established that theperson 132 is generating content or is the subject of content on thewebsite. Search terms for these searches can include e-mail addresses,names, screen names, social network profile names, phone numbers,personal website URLs, social network profile URLs, or physicaladdresses. Information that is extracted from communications with theperson 132 can also be used as search criteria.

The person profile 130 can include a schedule time link 148. The usercan click on/interact with the schedule time link 148 to send acommunication to the person 132 to request a meeting or to send theuser's schedule to the person 132. For example, clicking on the scheduletime link 148 can cause an e-mail to be automatically composed that isaddressed to the person 132 that contains all of the times over thecourse of the next week that the user is available during businesshours. This schedule information can be extracted from a calendarassociated with an e-mail client, web mail account, social networkaccount, instant messaging program, telephone, personal digitalassistant (PDA), or website belonging to the user or associated with theuser. In addition, schedule information can be extracted from a calendarstored on a computer, network drive, or other data storage locationbelonging to or associated with the user. In one implementation,clicking on the schedule time link 148 can cause a communication to besent to the person 132 requesting schedule information from the person132.

The person profile 130 can also include one or more initiatecommunication links 150. In the example shown in FIG. 1B, the initiatecommunication link 150 displayed will cause an e-mail addressed to theperson 132 to be automatically generated when it is clicked on. Otherforms of communication that can be initiated using an initiatecommunication link 150 include telephone calls, instant messages, textmessages, social network messages, social network posts, message boardposts, facsimiles, or voice over IP communications. For example, theperson profile 130 can include a “call Jen” link that can cause theuser's cell phone to dial Jen's phone number when clicked on. In anotherexample, the person profile 130 can include an “instant message” linkthat when clicked on, can cause an instant message program toautomatically open and generate an instant message addressed to a screenname of the person 132.

The person profile 130 can include a contact network 152. The contactnetwork 152 can include a list of contacts associated with the person132. The contact network 152 can be populated using the methodspreviously described in the description of FIG. 1A. The person profile130 can also display the total number of contacts associated with theperson 132 in the contact network 152. In the example shown in FIG. 1B,the contact network 152 displayed in the person profile 130 indicatesthat there are 50 contacts in Jen's contact network 152.

Clicking on, selecting, or interacting with one or more contacts fromthe contact network 152 can cause one or more actions to occur. In oneimplementation, selecting a contact from the contact network 152 cancause a person profile for that contact to be displayed. In someimplementations, selecting one or more contacts from the contact network152 can cause a communication directed to the selected contacts to beinitiated. For example, selecting three contacts from the contactnetwork 152 can cause an e-mail addressed to the three contacts to begenerated. In another example, clicking on three contacts from thecontact network 152 can cause the user's telephone to initiate aconference call with the selected contacts. In some implementations,selecting one or more contacts from the contact list can cause acommunication directed to the selected contacts and the person 132 to begenerated.

In some implementations, selecting a contact from the contact network152 can cause the most recent communication or conversation threadbetween the user and the selected contact to be displayed. In someimplementations, selecting a contact from the contact network 152 cancause the most recent communication or conversation thread involving thecontact, the person 132, and the user to be displayed. In someimplementations, moving a mouse cursor over a contact in the contactnetwork 152 can cause information about the contact to be displayed. Forexample, moving a cursor over a contact can cause a small pop-up bubbleto appear that displays the contact's phone number, e-mail address, orother contact information. In some implementations, contacts can bemanually added or removed from the contact network 152 by the user.

The person profile 130 can include a conversation list 154 that includesa list of recent communications or conversation threads involving theuser and the person 132 as previously described in the description ofFIG. 1A. The conversation list 154 can display the total number ofcommunications or conversation threads involving the user and the person132. In the example shown in FIG. 1B, the conversation list 154indicates that 2510 conversation threads have occurred that involved theuser and the person 132.

Clicking on or selecting a conversation thread or communication in theconversation list 154 can cause a more detailed summary of theconversation thread or communication to be displayed. For example,selecting a conversation thread can cause a summary of one or morecommunications in the conversation thread to be displayed. In anotherexample, selecting a communication in the conversation list 154 cancause a summary of the communication to be displayed. In someimplementations, selecting a communication in the conversation list 154can cause the communication to be displayed. For example, selecting ane-mail from the conversation list 154 can cause the e-mail to bedisplayed.

In some implementations, selecting a conversation thread can cause themost recent communication to be received or the most recentcommunication to be sent in that conversation thread to be displayed. Insome implementations, selecting a conversation thread in theconversation list 154 can cause the first communication in thatconversation thread to be displayed. In some implementations, selectinga conversation thread from the conversation list 154 can cause acommunication addressed to all of the participants of the conversationthread to be generated. For example, selecting an e-mail conversationthread can cause an e-mail to be automatically generated that isaddressed to all of the e-mail addresses involved with the selectedconversation thread. In some implementations, communications orconversation threads can be manually added or removed from theconversations list 154 by the user.

The person profile 130 can include a files exchanged list 156. The filesexchanged list 156 can contain a list of files exchanged between theuser and the person 132 as previously described in the description ofFIG. 1A. For each file listed in the files exchanged list 156, theperson profile 130 can display a file name, a file title, an icon, thetime or date when the file was received, the amount of time that haselapsed since the file was received, the subject of the communication towhich the file was attached, or other information about the file. Iconsdisplayed next to a file name or file title can indicate what type ofdocument the file is. In the example depicted, a file 158 with the filename “sturgeon 001.jpg” is displayed. An icon next to the file name forthe file 158 indicates that the file 158 is a picture file. A date nextto the file name indicates that the file 158 was received on April 23.

Clicking on or selecting a file in the files exchanged list 156 cancause the file to open. In some implementations, selecting a file cancause the communication to which the file was attached to be displayed.In some implementations, selecting a file can cause a list of files withthe same file name to be displayed. This allows the different versionsof a document that has undergone several rounds of revisions to bereviewed and compared to each other. This list of files can include atime and date stamp for each version of the file so that the most recentrevision can be easily identified. In some implementations, selecting afile can cause a summary of the file to be generated and displayed. Forexample, hovering a cursor over a file in the files exchanged list 156can cause an information bubble containing the title and first few linesof the file to be displayed. In some implementations, files can becopied from the files exchanged list 156 to other locations. In someimplementations, files can be manually added or removed from the filesexchanged list by the user.

The person profile 130 can include one or more menu buttons 160. Themenu buttons can be used to change personal settings or preferences,change viewing preferences, or access menus or help information. Theperson profile 130 can also include a minimize button 162 that can causethe person profile 130 to minimize or close. When the minimize button162 is clicked or selected, a minimized version of the person profile130 that takes up less space in a viewing window can be displayed. Theminimized version of the person profile 130 can include a summary ofsome or all of the information displayed by the person profile 130.

FIG. 1C shows a viewing panel 164. The viewing panel 164 can display aperson profile such as the person profile 130 of FIG. 1B. The viewingpanel 164 can also display information about communications,communication attachments, files, or conversation threads. In theexample shown in FIG. 1C the viewing panel 164 displays informationabout a conversation thread 166. The information about the conversationthread 166 can be displayed in response to a user clicking on aconversation thread 166 in a conversation list, such as the conversationlist 154 from FIG. 1B. The conversation thread 166 can also be displayedin response to the user viewing, reading, selecting, opening, or writinga communication that is part of the currently displayed conversationthread 166. In some implementations, the conversation thread 166 can bedisplayed in response to a search performed by the user. For example,the user can use a search bar 168 to search for a conversation thread166 based on the subject of the conversation thread 166, participants inthe conversation thread 166, files attached to communications in theconversation thread 166, or key words or terms in the communications ofthe conversation thread 166.

The viewing panel 164 can include one or more navigation buttons 170.The navigation buttons 170 can include a profile view navigation button172. The profile view navigation button 172 can be used to return theviewing panel 164 to a profile view so that the viewing panel 164displays information about the sender or recipient of a currentlyselected communication, or another person as indicated by the user. Thenavigation buttons 170 can also include a back button 174. The backbutton 174 can be used to display a person profile, conversation thread,or other information that was previously displayed in the viewing panel164. For example, if the user was previously viewing a person profilefor a person named Mark Wagner, clicking on the back button 174 cancause the viewing panel 164 to display the person profile for MarkWagner. In another example, if the user was previously viewinginformation about an e-mail attachment, clicking on the back button 174can cause the viewing panel 164 to display the previously viewed e-mailattachment information.

The navigation buttons 170 can also display a navigation history thathas lead to the current information being displayed in the viewing panel164. In the example shown in FIG. 1C, the navigation buttons 170indicate that the user first viewed a person profile for Jen Ertel. Theuser then viewed a person profile for Jerri Clark Wagner. The user mayhave opened the person profile for Jerri Clark Wagner by clicking on thename Jerri Clark Wagner in a contact network or list of contacts on JenErtel's person profile, or by performing a search for Jerri ClarkWagner, or other information associated with Jerri Clark Wagner. Thenavigation buttons 170 indicate that the user then viewed a personprofile for Mark Wagner. The user may have caused the currentconversation thread 166 to be displayed by clicking on a conversationthread in a conversation list similar to the conversation list 124 fromFIG. 1A. In some implementations, clicking on or selecting any of thebuttons in the navigation history can cause the viewing panel 164 todisplay the person profile, conversation thread, communication,communication attachment, or other information associated with theselected navigation button 170.

The viewing panel 164 can include a title bar 176. The title bar 176 caninclude the type of information being displayed in the viewing panel,the subject, and other key information. When the information beingdisplayed in the viewing panel 164 is a conversation thread 166, thetitle bar 176 can indicate that a conversation is being viewed, thetitle or subject line of the conversation thread, the number ofcommunications involved in the conversation thread, the types ofcommunications involved in the conversation thread, or the number ofpeople involved in the conversation thread. In the example shown, thetitle bar 176 indicates that a conversation is being viewed, that thesubject line of the communications in the conversation thread 166 is“dinner?”, that there are 8 people involved in conversation thread 166,that 18 communications are included in the conversation thread 166, andthat all 18 communications are e-mails.

The viewing panel 164 can include a summary of some or all of thecommunications 178 that make up the conversation thread 166. Informationdisplayed as part of the summary for each communication 178 can includethe sender of the communication 178, the recipients of the communication178, the time or day that the communication 178 was sent or received,attachments to the communication 178, the first few lines or sentencesof the communication 178, the importance of the communication 178, orthe number of recipients of the communication 178. For example, ane-mail summary 180 indicates that the user sent an e-mail in response toan e-mail from Jerri 1 week ago and that 5 additional recipients werealso listed on the e-mail. The e-mail summary 180 also displays thefirst lines of the e-mail sent to Jerri.

In some implementations, clicking on or selecting a communicationsummary in the conversation thread 166 can cause the relatedcommunication to be displayed. For example, clicking on the e-mailsummary 180 can cause the e-mail sent from the user to Jerri to bedisplayed. In another example, selecting a communication summary in theconversation thread 166 can cause a person profile for the sender or oneor more recipients of the related communication to be displayed. Inanother example, selecting a communication summary in the conversationthread 166 can cause one or more attachments or a list of attachments tothe related communication to be displayed. In some implementations,selecting a communication summary in the conversation thread 166 cancause a communication addressed to the sender or one or more recipientsof the related communication to be automatically generated. In someimplementations, selecting a communication summary in the conversationthread 166 can cause a more detailed summary for the relatedcommunication to be displayed.

The viewing panel 164 can include a detail adjustment control 182. thedetail adjustment control 182 can be used to modify the amount of detailthat is displayed in each communication summary in the conversation list166. In one implementation, adjusting the detail adjustment control 182can increase or decrease the number of words or lines of a body of acommunication that are displayed in each communication summary. In someimplementations, adjusting the detail adjustment control 182 canincrease or decrease the amount of information that is displayed foreach communication summary. For example, the detail adjustment controlcan be changed to display an e-mail address and phone number for eachsender or recipient of each communication 178 in the correspondingcommunication summary. In another example, the detail adjustment control182 can be used to control what information is used to identify sendersor recipients of communications 178 in each communication summary.Information used to identify senders or recipients can include names,nick names, screen names, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, socialnetwork profile names, or company names.

In some implementations in which some or all of the communications thatmake up a conversation thread 166 are telephone calls or voice over IPcommunications, audio recordings of some or all of the telephone callsor voice over IP communications can be displayed in the conversationthread 166. Clicking on or selecting a telephone call or voice over IPcommunication in the conversation thread 166 can cause an audiorecording of the communication to play. In some implementations,automatically or manually created transcripts of telephone calls orvoice over IP communications that make up part or all of a conversationthread 166 can be displayed. In some implementations, a summary of atranscript of the audio communication can be displayed as part of acommunication summary in the conversation thread 166. Clicking on orselecting a communication summary of a telephone call or voice over IPcommunication for which a transcript exists can cause the fulltranscript of the audio communication to be displayed, or an audio fileof the audio communication to play.

The viewing panel 164 can include a conversation participants list 184.The conversation participants list 184 can be a list of senders andrecipients of the communications 178 that make up the conversationthread 166. Information about each participant in the conversationthread 166 can be displayed, including name, contact information, numberof communications initiated in the displayed conversation thread 166,and other relevant information. The conversation participants list 184can also indicate the total number of participants involved in theconversation thread 166.

In some implementations, clicking on or selecting a person listed in theconversation participants list 184 can cause a person profile for theselected person to be displayed. In some implementations, selecting aperson from the conversation participants list 184 can automaticallygenerate a communication addressed to the selected person. In someimplementations, selecting a person from the conversation participantslist 184 can cause all communications or summaries of communicationsfrom the current conversation thread 166 that were initiated by theselected person to be displayed.

The viewing panel 164 can include a files exchanged list 186. The filesexchanged list 186 can display a list of files that have been exchangedin the current conversation thread 166. For example, the files exchangedlist 186 can list all of the files that have been attached tocommunications 178 in the conversation thread 166. Clicking on orselecting a file from the files exchanged list 186 can cause theselected file to open. In some implementations, selecting a file fromthe files exchanged list 186 can cause one or more communications towhich the file was attached to be displayed. In some implementations,selecting a file from the files exchanged list 186 can cause one or morecommunication summaries for communications to which the file wasattached to be displayed.

FIG. 1D shows a portion 188 of a person profile that can be included ina person profile such as the person profile 130 in FIG. 1B. The portion188 displays an e-mail address 190 for a person that has hadcommunications with a user. The portion 188 also includes a requestcontact information link 192. When clicked or selected, the requestcontact information link 192 can cause a communication addressed to theperson using a known piece of contact information to be automaticallygenerated. This automatically generated communication will requestadditional contact information from the person. If the person respondsto the automatically generated communication, the requested contactinformation can be extracted from the response and displayed as part ofthe person profile. The extracted contact information can also be usedin future communications with the person. For example, if the instantmessage screen name of the person is known, but the e-mail address forthe person in unknown, clicking on the request contact information link192 can automatically generate an instant message addressed to theperson's known screen name with a request for the person's e-mailaddress. When the person responds to the automatically generated instantmessage with his or her e-mail address, the e-mail address can beextracted from the instant message and displayed as part of the personprofile.

In the example depicted in FIG. 1D, the e-mail address 190 for theperson is known, however a phone number for the person is unknown.Clicking on the request contact information link 192 can cause an e-mailaddressed to the e-mail address 190 to be automatically generated withthe text “Hello, I don't have your phone number. Can you please send itto me.” If the person responds to the automatically generated e-mailwith a phone number, the phone number can be extracted from the e-mailand displayed as part of the person profile.

In some implementations where the person responds with more than oneadditional piece of contact information, each additional piece ofcontact information can also be extracted and displayed as part of theperson profile. For example, if an e-mail requesting a phone number fromthe person is automatically generated and sent, the person may send aresponse e-mail containing both a home phone number and work phonenumber. Both phone numbers can be extracted from the response e-mail anddisplayed with the work phone number and home phone number respectivelyindicated.

FIG. 1E shows a portion of a person profile 194. The person profile 194includes a shared notes panel 196. The shared notes panel 196 can beused by a user to share information with other participants who have arelationship with the user or are known contacts of the user. Sharednotes can take the form of text, documents, video files, audio files,images or hyperlinks. The user can designate which persons or contactsare permitted to view shared notes.

Posting a shared note can involve typing text or a hyperlink in a box198 in the shared notes panel 196. One or more files can be added to theshared note by browsing for the files in a file directory and selectingthe files to be attached to the shared note. In some implementations,one or more files can be added to the shared note by dragging the one ormore files into the box 198. The one or more files dragged into the box198 can include files in a folder on a computer or computer network,files that are attached to communications, files that are listed as partof a communication summary, or files that are listed in an exchangedfiles list.

Shared notes can be displayed as a part of a person profile and can bedisplayed chronologically or grouped by the type of shared note or othergrouping criteria. For example, if a first person posts a shared noteand a second person is on a list of contacts that are permitted to viewshared notes posted by the first person, a person profile for the firstperson on a computer used by the second person can display the sharednote from the first person as part of the person profile.

In some implementations, information shared in a shared note can be usedto refine web searches. For example, a hyperlink can be sent as part ofa shared note. This hyperlink can be included in a list of searchresults for a subject related to the topic of the shared note. Sharednotes can also be used to profile a person or group of people and theirinterests by analyzing common sources of information and types ofinformation commonly shared. This can be used to target adverting orrecommend sources of information.

In some implementations, the shared notes panel 196 can be a panel,pop-up window, or pop-up bubble that is separate from the person profile194. In some implementations, the shard notes panel 196 can be part of aconversation thread display. In some implementations, the shared notespanel 196 can be part of a viewing panel such as the viewing panel 164of FIG. 1C. In some implementations, files that are shared using ashared notes system such as the one described can be stored andretrieved upon request, by for example, visiting the file location in aweb browser, or when a user of the system views a person profile of acontact who shared the file.

FIG. 2 shows an example communication delivery system 200. In the system200, a first device (e.g., computer 202) belonging to a first user cantransmit a communication to a second device (e.g., computer 204)belonging to a second user over a computer network 206. The computernetwork 206 can be the Internet, an intranet, a LAN system or acompany's internal computer network. In some implementations, thecomputer 202 and the computer 204 can be desktop computers, laptopcomputers, cell phones, web enabled televisions, or personal digitalassistants. The communication transmitted from the computer 202 to thecomputer 204 can be an e-mail, phone call, instant message, textmessage, social network message or comment, message board post, or voiceover IP communication.

The computer 204 can extract data from the communication about the firstuser. This data can be used to make a person profile similar to theperson profile 130 shown in FIG. 1B. Data extracted from othercommunications with the first user can also be used to create a personprofile for the first user. Data that is extracted from communicationswith the first user can be used to query websites, search engines,person search directories and other sources of information foradditional information about the first user that can be used to create aperson profile. Information from communications that can be used assearch criteria include names, screen names, social network profilenames, social network profile URLs, physical addresses, website URLs,e-mail addresses, or telephone numbers. Information that is collected asa result of these queries can be used in future searches to identifyadditional information that can be used to create a person profile.

For example, the computer 204 can receive an e-mail sent by the firstuser from the computer 202. The computer 204 can perform a search usinga search engine 208 with the first user's e-mail address as the searchcriteria. The search engine 208 can return a search result that includesthe first user's phone number. This phone number can be displayed aspart of a person profile for the first user. The search engine 208 canalso return the URL for or link to a personal website 210 belonging tothe first user. The personal website 210 may contain additionalinformation about the first user that can be used to create a personprofile, such as additional contact information or biographicalinformation.

In another example, the e-mail address belonging to the first user mayinclude an extension for a company. The computer 204 can perform asearch using the search engine 208 with the e-mail extension as thesearch criteria. A result returned by the search can be a companywebsite. The company website can be searched to reveal a profile page212 for the first user on the company website. The profile page 212 maycontain additional information about the first user that can be used tocreate a person profile, such as additional contact information orbiographical information.

In another example, the computer 204 can perform a search using a personsearch directory 214 with the first user's name or other contactinformation as the search criteria. The person search directory 214 canreturn search results with additional contact information and otherinformation that can be used to create a person profile for the firstuser.

In another example, the computer 204 can receive an e-mail sent by thefirst user from the computer 202. The e-mail can contain a socialnetwork profile name for the first user. The computer 204 can extractthis social network profile name from the e-mail and use it to access asocial network webpage 216. The social network webpage 216 can containadditional contact information and other information that can beextracted and used to create a person profile for the first user. Thesocial network webpage 216 can also contain additional contacts that canbe associated with the first user in a person profile. For example,persons on the friends list of the social network webpage 216, orpersons who have posted comments or messages on the social networkwebpage 216 can be listed as contacts in a contact network for the firstuser.

In another example, a search performed using the search engine 208 canreturn a URL or link for a photo or video sharing website 218 on whichthe first user has a profile. Additional contact information orbiographical information that can be extracted and used to create aperson profile for the first user. For example, a profile belonging tothe first user on a video sharing website may include an instant messagescreen name for the first user. This screen name can be extracted anddisplayed as part of a person profile for the first user.

Information extracted from communications between the first user andsecond user can also be used to update profile information on a socialnetwork webpage or other webpage. For example, the computer 204 candetect that the second user system has primarily used e-mail address“david@foo.com” in recent communications, while the second user'sprofile on the social network webpage 216 shows his email address as“david@bar.com”. The computer 204 can share the second user's new e-mailaddress with the social network webpage 216 and the social network canautomatically update the second user's info or suggest he update itbased on this changed behavior recorded by the computer 204.

Information from travel websites and on-line retailers can also beextracted and displayed as part of a person profile. For example, ane-mail containing information about a flight itinerary can be receivedby the computer 204. The computer 204 can extract a flight number orother information about a flight from the e-mail. the computer 204 canthen query a travel website 220 using the flight number or other flightinformation as search criteria. Information about the flight, such asexpected departure time, expected arrival time, expected delays, weatherin the destination city, weather in the departure city, or any changesto the flight can be displayed as part of a person profile.

In another example, an e-mail containing information about an item orservice that the second user is interested in purchasing can be receivedby the computer 204. The computer 204 can query one or more searchengines, websites, or on-line retailers 222 to determine which retaileror website has the best price or currently has the item in stock or theservice available. This information can then be displayed as part of theperson profile.

Information from mapping web sites and location tracking servers canalso be extracted and displayed as part of a person profile. Forexample, the first user can own a GPS unit, cell phone, or other devicethat is capable of transmitting the first user's current physicallocation. A location tracking server 224 can receive this transmissionand allow other users to access the first user's current locationinformation. If the second user has permission to view the locationinformation for the first user, the computer 204 can access the locationtracking server using the computer network 206 to receive locationinformation about the first user. This location information can bedisplayed as part of a person profile.

The computer 204 can also access a maps and directions website 226 tocreate a map of the first user's current location, or to generatedirections to the first user's current location. The map or directionscan be displayed as part of a person profile for the first user. Themaps and directions website 226 can also be used to generate a map ordirections to one or more known addresses for the first user, such as awork address or home address. The map or directions can be displayed aspart of a person profile for the first user.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an example process 300 for collecting andpresenting historical communication and personal data. The process 300can, for example, be implemented in a system such as the system 100 ofFIG. 1A. In another example, the process 300 can be implemented in asystem such as the communication delivery system 200 of FIG. 2.

Stage 302 collects historical communication data and personal data. Forexample, communications such as e-mails, instant messages, phone calls,text messages, internet message board postings, social network messagesor comments, or voice over IP communications can be collected.Historical communication data and personal data can also be collectedfrom web search engines, people search engines, social networks, e-mailclients, personal web pages, telephone directories, scanned businesscard data, picture sharing websites, video sharing websites, personalprofile pages, travel websites, on-line retailers, or customerrelationship management systems.

The collected historical communication data and personal data caninclude contact information, biographical information, communicationtext, communication summaries, physical location information, mappinginformation, attachments to communications, weather information, travelinformation, and retail information.

Stage 304 deposits the collected data into a repository. For example,the collected data can be stored in a database on a user's computer. Thecollected data can also be stored on a network server, a web server, aremovable storage device, or as part of an e-mail client or othercommunication client.

Stage 306 monitors user behavior. For example, a system implementing themethod 300 can track the mouse movements, keyboard strokes, or mouseclicks of a user of the system, or active windows or mouse locationsdisplayed on a monitor or other display device of the system. The user'sbehavior can be monitored to determine if a user has opened, viewed,read, or composed a communication, such as an e-mail. The user'sbehavior can also be monitored to determine if the user has performed asearch, clicked on a particular item, or selected a particular item.

Stage 308 presents data from the repository in response to userbehavior. For example, referring to FIG. 1A, the person profile 108 canbe displayed in response to a user selecting the e-mail 110 in the inboxviewing panel 104. In another example, information about a person can bedisplayed in response to a user performing a search for the person'sname. In another example, information about a file can be displayed inresponse to a user clicking on the file in an e-mail or othercommunication. In another example, information about a topic can bedisplayed in response to a user clicking on or selecting text within thebody of a communication.

The apparatus, methods, flow diagrams, and structure block diagramsdescribed in this patent document may be implemented in computerprocessing systems including program code comprising programinstructions that are executable by the computer processing system. Someimplementations may also be used. Additionally, the flow diagrams andstructure block diagrams described in this patent document, whichdescribe particular methods and/or corresponding acts in support ofsteps and corresponding functions in support of disclosed structuralmeans, may also be utilized to implement corresponding softwarestructures and algorithms, and equivalents thereof.

This written description sets forth the best mode of the invention andprovides examples to describe the invention and to enable a person ofordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention. This writtendescription does not limit the invention to the precise terms set forth.Thus, while the invention has been described in detail with reference tothe examples set forth above, those of ordinary skill in the art mayeffect alterations, modifications and variations to the examples withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising: collectinghistorical data related to a plurality of existing communications;tracking, via a computing device, an interaction by a user with acommunication from the plurality of existing communications thatincludes one or more of: opening the communication, viewing thecommunication, and receiving the communication; and presenting, based onthe user interaction with the communication, at least a portion of thehistorical data to the user via the computing device, wherein presentingthe historical data includes simultaneously displaying: contactinformation for an entity associated with the communication with whichthe user interacts, a list of contacts associated with the entity, alist of prior communications between the user and the entity, andcommunication statistics, wherein displaying the communicationstatistics includes displaying a graph comprising a plurality of timeswhen communications were received from the entity and a relative volumeof communications received at each of the plurality of times, andwherein displaying of the list of contacts associated with the entitycomprises ranking each contact in the list of contacts based on a volumeof communications between the respective contact and the user anddisplaying the contacts in the list of contacts in order of theirrespective rank; wherein displaying the list of prior communicationsbetween the user and the entity further includes: grouping a firstsubset of the prior communications together into a first conversationthread; grouping a second subset of the prior communications togetherinto a second conversation thread; analyzing the first conversationthread and the second conversation thread and assigning a first rank tothe first conversation thread and a second rank to the secondconversation thread, the first rank being higher than the second rank,wherein assigning the first and second ranks is based on determining,from the analysis of the first conversation thread and the secondconversation thread, that the first conversation thread containscommunications that are work-related and the second conversation threadcontains communications that are social in nature; and displaying thefirst conversation thread ahead of the second conversation thread in thelist of prior communications based on the first rank and the secondrank.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the userinteraction with the communication further includes one or more ofperforming a search, selecting a person's name, selecting acommunication summary, and selecting an attribute associated with thehistorical data.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinthe historical data is collected from one or more of: e-mail body text,e-mail meta data, e-mail header information, e-mail attachments, websearch engines, people search engines, social networks, e-mail clients,instant messages, personal web pages, telephone directories, scannedbusiness card data, text messages, picture sharing websites, videosharing websites, personal profile pages, telephone communications,customer relationship management systems, airline flight data, on-lineretailer data, news feeds, and stock quotes.
 4. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein collecting the historical data includesdirectly requesting information from one or more of a sender of acommunication from the plurality of communications and a recipient ofone or more of the plurality of communications.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the historical data isdisplayed within one or more of: an e-mail client, a web browser, aninstant message window, a panel, and a pop-up window.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the historical data ispresented using one or more display methods selected from the groupcomprising highlighting, underlining, adding hyper links, adding text,adding images, adding video, and adding attachments.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the historical dataincludes one or more of: contact information, communication summaries,conversation threads, attachments to communications, related contacts,travel information, weather information, and information related toon-line retail purchases.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the communication statistics further include one or more of:lengths of communications, subject matter of communications, titles ofcommunications, participants in communications, sources ofcommunications, response times of communications, and types ofcommunications.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, furthercomprising: sharing at least a portion of the historical data among anetwork of participants.
 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9,wherein different amounts of the historical data are shared with eachparticipant based on preference settings.
 11. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from the user via thecomputing device, a selection from the presented historical data; andautomatically generating a communication in response to the userselection.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinpresenting the historical data further includes simultaneouslydisplaying: statistics regarding communications between the user and theentity, and a list of files exchanged between the user and the entity.13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the entity isselected from the group consisting of: a person, an automated system,and a business entity.
 14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the prior communications are grouped together in theconversation thread based on a subject common to the communications inthe conversation thread.
 15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein assigning the first and second ranks is further based ondetermining, from the analysis of the first conversation thread and thesecond conversation thread, that the first conversation thread containsmore communications than the second communication thread.
 16. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computerreadable instructions, which when executed cause a system to: collecthistorical data related to a plurality of existing communications; trackan interaction by a user with a communication from the plurality ofexisting communications that includes one or more of: opening thecommunication, viewing the communication, and receiving thecommunication; and present, based on the user interaction with thecommunication, at least a portion of the historical data to the user,wherein presenting the historical data includes simultaneouslydisplaying: contact information for an entity associated with thecommunication with which the user interacts, a list of contactsassociated with the entity, a list of prior communications between theuser and the entity, and communication statistics, wherein displayingthe communication statistics includes displaying a graph comprising aplurality of times when communications were received from the entity anda relative volume of communications received at each of the plurality oftimes, and wherein displaying of the list of contacts associated withthe entity comprises ranking each contact in the list of contacts basedon a volume of communications between the respective contact and theuser and displaying the contacts in the list of contacts in order oftheir respective rank; wherein displaying the list of priorcommunications between the user and the entity further includes:grouping a first subset of the prior communications together into afirst conversation thread; grouping a second subset of the priorcommunications together into a second conversation thread; analyzing thefirst conversation thread and the second conversation thread andassigning a first rank to the first conversation thread and a secondrank to the second conversation thread, the first rank being higher thanthe second rank, wherein assigning the first and second ranks is basedon determining, from the analysis of the first conversation thread andthe second conversation thread, that the first conversation threadcontains communications that are work-related and the secondconversation thread contains communications that are social in nature;and displaying the first conversation thread ahead of the secondconversation thread in the list of prior communications based on thefirst rank and the second rank.
 17. The medium of claim 16, wherein theuser interaction with the communication further includes one or more ofperforming a search, selecting a person's name, selecting acommunication summary, and selecting an attribute associated with thehistorical data.
 18. The medium of claim 16, wherein the historical datais collected from one or more of: e-mail body text, e-mail meta data,e-mail header information, e-mail attachments, web search engines,people search engines, social networks, e-mail clients, instantmessages, personal web pages, telephone directories, scanned businesscard data, text messages, picture sharing websites, video sharingwebsites, personal profile pages, telephone communications, customerrelationship management systems, airline flight data, on-line retailerdata, news feeds, and stock quotes.
 19. The medium of claim 16, whereincollecting the historical data includes directly requesting informationfrom one or more of a sender of a communication from the plurality ofcommunications and a recipient of one or more of the plurality ofcommunications.
 20. The medium of claim 16, wherein the historical datais displayed within one or more of: an e-mail client, a web browser, aninstant message window, a panel, and a pop-up window.
 21. The medium ofclaim 16, wherein the historical data is presented using one or moredisplay methods selected from the group comprising highlighting,underlining, adding hyper links, adding text, adding images, addingvideo, and adding attachments.
 22. The medium of claim 16, wherein thehistorical data includes one or more of: contact information,communication summaries, conversation threads, attachments tocommunications, communication statistics, related contacts, travelinformation, weather information, and information related to on-lineretail purchases.
 23. The medium of claim 16, wherein the historicaldata includes one or more of: times of communications, lengths ofcommunications, subject matter of communications, titles ofcommunications, participants in communications, sources ofcommunications, response times of communications, types ofcommunications, and volume of communications.
 24. The medium of claim16, wherein at least a portion of the historical data is shared among anetwork of participants.
 25. The medium of claim 24, wherein differentamounts of the historical data are shared with each participant based onpreference settings.
 26. The medium of claim 16, wherein the mediumfurther stores instructions for: receiving, from the user, a selectionfrom the presented historical data; and automatically generating acommunication in response to the user selection.
 27. A systemcomprising: at least one hardware processor; and memory storinginstructions that, when executed by the at least one hardware processor,cause the system to: collect historical data related to a plurality ofexisting communications; track an interaction by a user with acommunication from the plurality of existing communications thatincludes one or more of: opening the communication, viewing thecommunication, and receiving the communication; and present, based onthe user interaction with the communication, at least a portion of thehistorical data to the user, wherein presenting the historical dataincludes simultaneously displaying: contact information for an entityassociated with the communication with which the user interacts, a listof contacts associated with the entity, a list of prior communicationsbetween the user and the entity, and communication statistics, whereindisplaying the communication statistics includes displaying a graphcomprising a plurality of times when communications were received fromthe entity and a relative volume of communications received at each ofthe plurality of times, and wherein displaying the list of contactsassociated with the entity includes ranking each contact in the list ofcontacts based on a volume of communications between the respectivecontact and the user and displaying the contacts in the list of contactsin order of their respective rank; wherein displaying the list of priorcommunications between the user and the entity further includes:grouping a first subset of the prior communications together into afirst conversation thread; grouping a second subset of the priorcommunications together into a second conversation thread; analyzing thefirst conversation thread and the second conversation thread andassigning a first rank to the first conversation thread and a secondrank to the second conversation thread, the first rank being higher thanthe second rank, wherein assigning the first and second ranks is basedon determining, from the analysis of the first conversation thread andthe second conversation thread, that the first conversation threadcontains communications that are work-related and the secondconversation thread contains communications that are social in nature;and displaying the first conversation thread ahead of the secondconversation thread in the list of prior communications based on thefirst rank and the second rank.
 28. The system of claim 27, wherein theuser interaction with the communication further includes one or more ofperforming a search, selecting a person's name, selecting acommunication summary, and selecting an attribute associated with thehistorical data.
 29. The system of claim 27, wherein the historical datais collected from one or more of: e-mail body text, e-mail meta data,e-mail header information, e-mail attachments, web search engines,people search engines, social networks, e-mail clients, instantmessages, personal web pages, telephone directories, scanned businesscard data, text messages, picture sharing websites, video sharingwebsites, personal profile pages, telephone communications, customerrelationship management systems, airline flight data, on-line retailerdata, news feeds, and stock quotes.
 30. The system of claim 27, whereincollecting the historical data includes directly requesting informationfrom one or more of a sender of a communication from the plurality ofcommunications and a recipient of one or more of the plurality ofcommunications.
 31. The system of claim 27, wherein the historical datais displayed within one or more of: an e-mail client, a web browser, aninstant message window, a panel, and a pop-up window.
 32. The system ofclaim 27, wherein the historical data is presented using one or moredisplay methods selected from the group comprising highlighting,underlining, adding hyper links, adding text, adding images, addingvideo, and adding attachments.
 33. The system of claim 27, wherein thehistorical data includes one or more of: contact information,communication summaries, conversation threads, attachments tocommunications, communication statistics, related contacts, travelinformation, weather information, and information related to on-lineretail purchases.
 34. The system of claim 27, wherein the historicaldata includes one or more of: times of communications, lengths ofcommunications, subject matter of communications, titles ofcommunications, participants in communications, sources ofcommunications, response times of communications, types ofcommunications, and volume of communications.
 35. The system of claim27, wherein at least a portion of the historical data is shared among anetwork of participants.
 36. The system of claim 35, wherein differentamounts of the historical data are shared with each participant based onpreference settings.
 37. The system of claim 27, wherein the memoryfurther stores instructions for: receiving, from the user, a selectionfrom the presented historical data; and automatically generating acommunication in response to the user selection.